Last weekend, Yahoo picked up on the decline of free WiFi as we posted here.

The largest current roadblock is the financial problems facing Earthlink. It is Earthlink that originally sponsored many urban plans for WiFi infrastructure that would be free to citizens. Confirming this, Yahoo reported;

“Earthlink, a partner for a number of cities, has begun a reorganization that will limit new projects.”

But Earthlink wouldn’t be pulling out if these projects made sense on the bottom line. The problem is? They don’t.

Like clean running water and garbage pickups, WiFi is becoming a true ‘utility’ for most Americans. Internet connectivity is rapidly becoming a key necessity. So critical, in fact, that UNICEF uses it as one of the indicators of how healthy and equipped a child is in their development.

Even so, the piper that must be paid.

“The problem is finding a business model that really works,” said Stan Schatt, analyst with ABI Research.

“Originally the municipalities came into this by saying they would offer Wi-Fi and get a free ride for their internal networks, and it turns out it doesn’t work that way.”

In San Francisco, Google was preparing to back a citywide Wi-Fi program with Earthlink that would be free for users who agree to view online ads, with paying customers getting an ad-free version. But the city was unable to come to terms with Earthlink before the firm pulled out and announced a massive reorganization on August 28.

Chicago officials announced August 31 they would “re-evaluate” their plan after two potential partners failed to come up with a suitable plan because a network required “extraordinary financial support” from the city.

“In Chicago and in many other cities, a municipal Wi-Fi network was initially envisioned as a way to provide cheaper, high-speed access to consumers,” said Hardik Bhatt, the city’s chief information officer.

“But given the rapid pace of changing technology, in just two short years, the marketplace has altered significantly.”

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When I was compiling notes for my post on the best airports for wired travelers, I realized that the recent bloom of free WiFi is shrinking. Fast.

Fee-based WiFi access has become standard in most urban airports. In fact, even when companies offer to build free WiFi for cities, they are sometimes turned away as local governments prefer the tax revenue over the convenience for the travelers.

Police are cracking down on ‘free WiFi’ usage at restaurants by non-customers. (Remember the poor guy who got charged with a felony for not buying a donut?)

And even places we think of as WiFi refuges - like hotels - are quietly moving to a fee-based system. Where before you could just turn on and surf away, now you need a code associated to your room number. A bill that says the WiFi fee is ‘$0.00′ or ‘waived’  is a quiet clue that maybe it won’t always be.

One of the biggest investors in free WiFi - Earthlink - has had to stop investing as they reorganize in response to their corporate financial health. Among the cities they had planned to build free WiFi infrastructures for was the beleaguered New Orleans.

By 2006, they had completed access for a “wireless system in 20 square miles of New Orleans along the repopulated banks of the Mississippi River“. But there they must stop and future plans for other cities have been scrapped, as well.

Like most wired travelers, I had assumed that someday I would be able to flip my laptop open most anywhere, anytime - like my cell phone - and find signal.

And while that may still happen, now its clear that there will be a tug on my credit card each time I hit ‘Enter’… and that, I should of seen coming.

But didn’t.

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